The Dead Rose Sings
by Ilandere Okami
Summary: She enjoyed this new life, even if her past was harsh. It was exciting and filled with danger. But one mistake has caused her to lose everything she cares about and more. Not to be completed
1. A Hunt

**Author's note: yes, my very first fanfiction. i have several stories on .com/~zenasilverwing though, if you like this one. i luv vampires, as you can see from any of the stories, and this one. twilight is one of my fave series and has been for about a year. please enjoy the first chapter of this story that started out as a daydream.**

**Disclaimer: i DO NOT own anything in Twilight! this story i do own however.**

Chapter 1

I took in a deep breath, letting the scent burn my throat. Venom overflowed my mouth at the sweet smell. I sighed, knowing that that smell would be mine soon enough. I followed my nose, taking a sharp turn down a small darkened alley.

"Good, he's alone," I murmured.

Yes, there he was, sitting on the ground, sweat matting his hair and dripping off his face. He thought he could outrun me; I had given him a head start. My approach was silent, so I kicked a can, just to see the look on his face as he jolted up. He barely moved, too tired to do much. Good, that would make things much easier.

A smirk on my face, I sauntered towards him, knowing he would be mine in just a few seconds. His thoughts were full of pleads and vows—anything to not face his impending fate.

I was bored by this quite easily. It was never any fun to have your prey plea before they die. I was still a little merciful, even if what I was about to do was the exact opposite. Therefore, I let him think about the one thing he couldn't live without. Let that be his last thought. Of course, like so many middle-aged men, it was his wife. She was beautiful—not as beautiful as my sister, or even me, but no one can top that—and looked very caring. The look in her eyes could have brought my mother to tears.

I looked into the man's face then. He was smiling; he would miss his wife terribly. And she would miss him. No, that won't do. She would always love him—much better. His grin became more pronounced. But that was his last thought.

At that point, I pounced, not wanting to have to change anything else in his head. It almost made me lose my appetite. My razor-sharp teeth connected with his neck and broke skin immediately. His blood was better than it smelled, warm and delicious. It curbed the burning in the back of my throat and made me feel stronger.

However, I had barely begun my feeding when I heard someone coming. She was shouting a man's name. I didn't know what to do. I never did when there was pooling blood around me. I kept drinking, thinking that she would pass this alley without looking in.

I was wrong.

The footsteps stopped at the mouth of the alley. I turned around to see the face of the man's wife, this time connected to a body. She had those same caring eyes, but this face wasn't smiling. She had her mouth hung slightly open at the sight of her husband lying pale and dead on the ground, his blood spilling over his neck-wound.

"Damn," I cursed under my breath. My head still wasn't clear of the blood's smell and I wasn't done feeding. I did the first thing that came to mind and ran to the woman so fast she didn't see it coming.

Her head banged against the wall of one of the buildings surrounding us and bounced off, knocking her to the ground. I knew she was still alive, but my meal was getting cold. I rushed over to the man sprawled on the ground and finished my business hastily.

Then I looked over at the woman, finally coming to. One thought was in her head: the face of her husband. I wanted to take her blood too, but knew that was just wrong to impose the fate of the man on the wife as well. Instead, I easily lifted her body off the ground and laid her next to the dead man. She was crying and I wanted to do something. It wasn't right to take two people's lives. What if they had children to take care of?

Her thoughts were only filled with the man. No kids. That was good. But I couldn't leave her there suffering. She barely even registered my presence. She knew her husband was dead and she was dying, but nothing else. I carefully placed one cold, hard hand on either side of her neck, whispered an apology, and twisted my hands. I heard a snap and a whimper, then nothing.

By this time, the sun was beginning to rise.

"OH, CRAP!" I needed to get back home before I was seen. It wasn't bad enough that I was covered in blood, but now my skin had to give me away too?

I ran out of the alley as fast as I could, not caring who I pushed to the ground. My skin was glinting in the rising sun and casting off rainbows of light in every direction. There were no shadows to keep to and I was passing too many people not to go unnoticed. If my heart could beat, it would have been racing as fast as my feet.

I turned corners and crossed streets, not bothered that I was stopping traffic in the process. A few people would probably go blind today. It didn't matter. I needed to get back home, to be safe.

My mind was racing ahead of me and I could barely keep track of my own thoughts. I had never truly been confused in this life, but now I was. My brain wasn't working correctly. That's why I jumped into the first tinted-windowed taxi I saw, climbed into the front seat, knocked out the driver, and took the wheel before I even knew what I was doing.

I sped down the highway as fast as I could go, hoping that even if I had caused a huge scene running through the city, at least the bodies wouldn't be found right away. They couldn't trace them back to me, a person that didn't even exist. I usually dispose of the bodies more effectively, but I didn't have any time.

My thoughts were still jumbled up, so when I was almost at the house, I placed the driver back in his seat, kept his foot on the gas pedal, and crashed through the passenger window. His taxi would crash somewhere….

I raced through the trees, making a beeline straight for the house. My clothes snagged on branches and leaves and twigs stuck in my hair. Pieces of glass were still caught in my clothes and the blood all over me was just beginning to dry. My red eyes must have looked wild and crazy.

I must have looked like a monster as I plowed through the door, surrounded by my family, and cried, "_They're coming, aren't they? I've doomed us all! The Volturi are coming! I'm sorry!_"


	2. Unwanted

Chapter 2

Everyone stared at me in awe. No one moved, which is, in fact, quite easy to begin with for us. My mother, Esme, was the first to move. She leaned forward and fell to her knees next to me and placed her arms around my shoulders.

"Shhh, shhh," she whispered. "Everything will turn out fine. There is no need to worry. Right, Alice?" Her head tilted up to look at Alice. "Alice?" she questioned, worry plain in her voice, losing the calming effect.

Sweet Alice didn't want to say what she saw. How could it be that bad? I would be killed and the Volturi would leave. Nothing more. After that, life for the Cullens would go back to normal. I had ruined their lives and forced them to move and now I had put them in more danger than was needed. Carlisle was too forgiving of a father. He needn't suffer anymore.

"HOW CAN YOU THINK THAT, RAVEN?!" Edward yelled, obviously startled by my thoughts. I often stayed away from him because of that. I didn't like people listening in on my innermost thoughts and feelings. I often thought of disgusting, scary, or weird things to make sure my brother wouldn't want to look in my mind. Other times, I would lie constantly.

That's why I loved my hunting trips so much. It was the only time I could be truly alone. Since I was the only one with a natural diet, no one ever wanted to go with me. It was understandable; the temptation could be too much. So I often thought about the positives and negatives of my living with the Cullens. Obviously, the negatives greatly outweighed the positives, but they didn't care.

I sighed and looked up into Edward's golden eyes. "You know it's true. All of you are disgusted of my eating habits and know I won't change. I forced you to move away from Forks. Bella, it must be so hard for you. Jacob…."

"No, don't say it," Jacob said quietly. He picked up Renesme, who looked to be almost thirteen now, and walked off to who-knows-where. I had caused the most stress and troubles for him. He lost his pack the day my family decided to move. He couldn't leave Renesme. And now he had to live with vampires constantly.

I shook off Esme's hands and stood up. "I better go get changed," I said, starting for the stairs. "Alice, I'll be in my room if you choose to tell me my fate."

Everyone was silent. Then Alice finally spoke up, her wind chime voice lower than normal, "Good-bye, Raven. I know you'll find your place in this world." Then she walked past me and trudged up the stairs to her room, all bubbliness gone from her step.

If I could cry, I would. Instead I stood like a statue and waiting for someone to say something. Esme looked up from where she was still sitting on the ground. "You're not going to die." It was a statement, not a question. "You're leaving?" That however, was a question.

I answered, still with one foot on the stairs, "I don't want to. But Alice says so. I don't want to put you all in such danger. It's time for me to leave anyway. Things will go back to normal with me gone. Maybe you can move back to Forks—"

"You don't get it, do you?" Jasper cut me off. He rarely spoke to me; it was hardest for him to resist human blood and my being able to resist unless I was hunting hurt him in ways I would never be able to understand. For him to talk to me now, in front of so many family members, was extremely surprising. "You don't. We—I—don't want you to leave. We are family. Family sticks together. If that means moving, we move. This family has made too many sacrifices for you to give up so easily! _Don't leave!_"

That was the longest speech I ever heard from Jasper. No one knew Jasper cared for me at all, what with the way he treated me all the time. He and the rest of my family didn't like my life choices, but they were my choices to make. They knew that and didn't try to stop me.

"I'm sorry," I said, my eyes downcast. And with that, I hurried up the stairs to my attic bedroom. I changed into more comfortable clothes and tried to brush the caked-on blood out of my hair. Why did I have to be such a messy eater? Bella said I would get better over time. It had been over six months, and with no such luck.

I was too busy wallowing in my misery, curled in a ball in the middle of my bed, to notice someone come up the stairs. That's why I jumped when I heard Edward say, "I normally try to stay out of your mind even when you aren't trying to get rid of me. It pains me to hear your thoughts. The pain you're always in. Your memories. Your future. Even your present. You think you're always alone. You're not. I-I-I am never at a loss for words."

I raised an eyebrow sarcastically and he realized he wasn't at a loss for words a second ago. "I don't need someone to talk to now. I don't want someone's pity. And I don't want anyone's help. I am fine by myself. Just ask Alice when I am running away."

He sat at the foot of my bed. "You're not gonna run away. You know you can't. You've run away from your problems long enough. You hate it. You know they always follow you anyways and just get worse."

I threw a pillow at him. _I thought you didn't like to read my mind._

He dodged it easily. "Alice wants to come up here. Will you let her? I know you must be fed up with me."

I rolled onto my stomach and said, "Go ahead," to my pillow.

She was at my side in seconds. The weight at the edge of the bed changed I knew Edward had gotten up and left. I could see through Alice's eyes I looked like a mess, even with changed clothes. How had a simple hunting trip turn into such a nightmare? Vampires aren't supposed to even be able to dream.

"What is it?" I mumbled, muffled greatly by the pillow in my face.

"You're not leaving. I mean—you're not running away—from here. This is hard to explain. You know, sometimes it feels like a curse that I can see the future. I know what is going to happen. I try to prevent. It's weird, too, that I can see the future when I have no memory of my past. What about you? You never did tell us about yours…."

"What is there to know about me? All I know is that I have a great family that can't seem to grasp the concept that I am a horrible addition to them. And now I have endangered them all and still they don't want me gone!" I was practically yelling by the end. I was on the verge of changing all their minds. What if they did want me gone? Alice or Edward always managed to stop me before I did something like that.

"I'm trying to make you feel better, you know!" Alice got up in a huff. When she got to the door, she added, "And by the way, they're coming tonight. I suggest you say your good-byes now." She sighed. "They won't kill you. Well, you won't let them kill you." Like she said, she hated giving away some of the future.

* * *

**Author's Note: sorry for not much action. but now you know the time (sort of...using Renesme's age...), and the characters. it is quite a sad story. next chapter will have more past stuff...you need to know the story of Raven's life! it is quite sad....and what does alice mean? who knows?! well...i do, but that is because i am the author. please R&R. the story will have more action in chapter four. sorry if this seems like just a filler chapter. but now you know something is different about this girl. i luv not saying things outright and making the reader think and figure out clues....**


	3. The Story

**Author's note: Raven's past. longest chapter i have ever written for anything! (4 pages on microsoft word)**

* * *

Chapter 3

For the rest of the day, I sat on my bed, "wallowing in my own misery" as Edward so kindly put it. What made me more miserable were all the visitors I got. Obviously no one in this house ever respects people's privacy. Of course, that is quite hard with Edward and Alice around…and me.

The most heart-wrenching visit was from Esme. She just wanted to keep her family together. I understood that, but if it was my time to go, I cannot change my destiny, only the decisions that eventually got me there. I swear if she could, my mother would have cried out every ounce of liquid in her body. She had gone through too much loss to suffer any more. First she thought Edward had left. Then Bella was going to die. Then Alice and Jasper left. Now I was leaving her. I had stayed in her life the shortest, yet I was as connected to her as any of her other children.

Jasper came up the most often, even if his visits were the shortest. He came to remind me that no one wanted me gone. And he gave me an extra calming, happy feeling that I knew wasn't my own. I almost smiled the seventh time he came. But as soon as my jaw muscles began to move, he left, and so did the smile.

The most surprising visit was Renesme's, however. She came up the stairs as quietly as she could—lacking a bit of the grace of her father—and peeked inside. Although she was thirteen looks wise, her mind was so much more mature. I sometimes wondered if she was more mature than me. Probably. She asked me if I wanted to talk about anything. Everyone else who came just talked to me, not with me. They thought I didn't want to talk.

She walked over, her skin contrasting greatly with the dark, dreary furnishings and walls. I was about to tell her to go away, that I didn't want to talk, when she placed her warm hand on my cheek affectionately. She showed me visions of her past. Of when she thought her mother and father were to die and her Jacob might be the only one left. She remembered the pain that she might lose someone in her family.

Then she remembered the pain I had brought her whole family when I was created. Of when we had to move. The pain it caused them to see me have to leave now. She showed me the pain she felt losing another member of her family. She, too, didn't want me gone.

But then she showed me the same face I had been trying to block every time someone came into my bedroom: my own. It was distorted in pain; my long, dark hair completely messed up; my red eyes as hard as rubies instead of flowing like the human blood behind them. Renesme always saw things more clearly, as she did now. She saw the sadness hiding underneath the anger I held towards her and anyone else who tried to comfort me.

"Sometimes, you need to let others help you, even if you don't want it," she said to me once she placed her hand back at her side. "Really, it seems like you do need to talk. Talk to me. I am a great listener; you know I love stories. Why don't you tell me about your past?"

How could I say _no_ to that face? I sighed and gestured to the bed, indicating I wanted her to sit down. "Before I begin, I just want to say that I feel very young here. Even if Bella—your mom—is only a few years older than me, I feel like a kid. Everyone else is much older. They have matured, grown wiser. I am as old as I look, but feel even younger. I know you are mature for your age, and you're really only five. Yet you are more mature than even me. I was never mature to begin with. I consider you more of my sister than a niece. And more of a sister than the uncles and aunts I consider everyone else is around me. Even Jacob seems older than me!" I paused to giggle, something I thought would be impossible for me to do today. Renesme giggled too. She knew Jacob was still a sixteen-year-old at heart and would never change.

"Now that I've gotten that off my chest," I began again, "I will tell you my story. I was born seventeen years ago in Chicago. Odd, I know, seeing as your dad was also seventeen when he was turned and lived in Chicago.

"My parents were never happy together and moved around a lot. They often went on long vacations. That was perhaps the reason for our financial troubles. When I was ten, they got a divorce. I thought it was about time—until it was time. They both packed their bags and moved out of our newest house. I didn't know who to stay with. My mom was an alcoholic and my dad was a workaholic and never home. I ended up getting put in foster care because my mom was unfit to take care of me and my dad didn't want to have to deal with me.

"I was a horrible child and never did as I was told. I got my ears pierced soon after I got into my second foster home—several times. I got my first tattoo when I was thirteen." I pointed to my shoulder, where there was a picture of a skull. Then I lifted up my shirt slightly so Renesme could see my lower back—there was several roses and thorny stems. "I got that one next. But my last one I got right before moving to Forks. It was the scariest to get." That's when I moved my thick, wavy hair to the side and pointed to the side of my neck, where there was what looked like two puncture holes. "Hey, I didn't know about this kind of vampire yet!"

Renesme admired the tattoo for a while before asking, "Why did you deface your body? Getting tattoos and multiple piercings…it just seems so weird."

I shook my head. "Life was complicated. Hell, it still is—even more so. But then, I thought that I could let the pain out by doing something more painful. After a while, they didn't hurt. I needed another way to let go of my pain. I would never try cutting—too emo. Drugs were too close to alcohol and that was what got me stuck where I was.

"I didn't have too much time to think though. The next day, my foster parents claimed they couldn't control me and shipped me off to Forks. There was a family on a reservation that had recently lost a child. They wanted to help some kid that they thought needed help, to ease their pain of not being able to raise their own kid.

"It didn't take me long to be attracted to Jake's buddies. They all seemed strong, mysterious, and cool. I liked that in a guy. But when I asked if I could come along to wherever they went one night, they just laughed in my face and said it was no place for me. Humph. So I set out after them. They took some short-cut through the woods and I thought it would lead to someplace cool.

"I could hear footsteps up ahead and tried to follow. When I got to the other side, I could've sworn I hadn't truly followed them. It was a house, a mansion! With a huge yard with several humongous wolves running through it to the house!

"I was too shocked to say anything. Especially when some of them disappeared into the bushes and came out several seconds later as young men. One of them was Jake. I did the only thing I could think of doing: scream at the top of my lungs. A second later, I had one of the wolves on top of me, knocking me to the ground, along with a huge guy—Emmett I later found out—that was extremely cold and hard as stone holding my arms down. Jacob was at my side the next second with a blond teenager with a calm look on his face. I fell asleep. Jasper….

"The next thing I knew, I was lying on an extremely comfy couch in an extremely white room. It almost blinded me. You know how much I hate white….Surrounding me were several of Jacob's friends along with a whole group of pale, cold people. It was like a bunch of fire and ice in one enclosed space.

"That's when they explained to me everything. Quil said he knew I wouldn't quit bugging them until they explained." I smiled, remembering the exasperated look on his face. "I was able to join their group at La Push after that. The Cullens, however, wouldn't accept me. Jasper made sure of that."

Renesme placed one of her tiny hands on mine—they reminded me of Alice's—and showed me my face. It was once again hurt. I, in turn, changed the look of my face in her mind to an image of my human face. I had gotten that image from her when I was just a newborn. She thought I looked beautiful, and still do. "Go on. No one ever told me why you were turned or why we had to move. They thought they should keep me innocent," Renesme said, irritated.

"It's not the happiest part of my life you know. Actually, it has scarred me, literally and figuratively. I don't like thinking about it. But right now, talking seems to be helping. And you are special to me. I will go on. It all started about a month after I found out about werewolves and vampires existing in Washington. I always knew Leah hated me, but this just was…ineffable."

I went on to describe the day Leah forced me to come with them when they went up to the mountains. I thought it was some trick, and it was. Leah was able to get me so angry that when I snapped at a newer wolf, he snapped too. They thought he had killed me. I was losing blood quickly. My face still has a scar on it starting above my eyebrow down to my cheek. I like it; it makes me look sinister.

They ran with me in their arms, rushing me to Carlisle. How could they describe what happened to anyone but him? Alice had already foreseen the attack and sent Carlisle down to La Push. Leah didn't know I would get hurt and pleaded with Carlisle to help me. She thought it was her own fault…which it was.

It was almost too late. He asked for permission from both Sam and Jacob, knowing that he was on their land and biting me would be completely against the treaty. They didn't care. They had both had grown attached to me. They thought I was cool, Jake more than Sam of course.

When I woke up from the searing pain, I did the most horrible thing I had ever done. Unlike Bella, I wasn't told too much about how newborns act and I wasn't prepared. I never thought I would be turned after all.

"I was still in La Push, and surrounded by good-smelling vampires, horrible-smelling werewolves and several tasty humans. I went straight for Leah's mom." I stopped, unable to go on. I got a lump in my throat, the moment causing too much pain. The pain ebbed away and I looked up at Renesme. She was thinking about Jasper standing at the door of my room. I quickly turned towards him and gave him a dirty look. I never gave him permission to reenter my room during my time with Renesme. Then I saw behind him were Bella and Edward, followed by Alice and Emmett. They all wanted to hear my side of the story.

I looked back at Renesme and she showed me a vision that we were still alone. It helped. I continued, "I don't want to describe how she tasted, but I knew at that point I could never become what all of you are. I was still thirsty and my throat burned, but once I was finished, I was held down by several vampires and werewolves.

"I realized what I had just done and didn't protest. Instead I just yelled, '_Kill me now! Just kill me now!_' They wouldn't. Trust me, some wanted me dead, especially Leah, but they wouldn't do it. I had just killed her mom after she had saved my life…after she had almost killed me…but still! Everyone besides Jasper already thought of me as family because of the time I did spend with them. They took me in and decided it was best if we moved. I couldn't face going back to La Push, or even living too near it. Now Seth and Leah have no parents and I have caused for them what I already had. Full circle, right?" I noticed Jacob and Rosalie at the bottom of the stairs then.

"We moved here, and have lived here for six months. And I have caused enough grief for this family. I am finally going where I deserve."

* * *

**AN: yes, not very much action. but now you know the story of Raven. she is one badass girl! i mean: piercings all over, tattoos, and a scar down her face she liked....Sinister.... please tell me what you think! if you think i made any mistake, especially time-wise, like the five years meaning 13 years for Renesme, PLEASE TELL ME!! I WILL TOTALLY CHANGE IT!! i am still confused by that speeding age thing...would she be 21 by age 7 and stop growing then or what? and i like the name Renesme better than Nessie. Get over it.  
and yes, i will get back to present day and a lot of action next chapter. and yes, i made this up as i went along. its hard for me to come up with everything right away. especially someone's past. **


	4. Confrontation

Chapter 4

I looked from Renesme's face into the faces of the people I had called family for the past half a year. They all had solemn looks, remembering that last scene from their own perspective. I wanted them to stop. It was too much.

Suddenly, they all looked up, knowing that their thoughts were wrong. They were seeing me running through some of my happier moments with them. They saw me running through fields around our new home. They saw the hugs and warmth I felt from them when we were acting as the family we seemed to be. They saw the looks each of them gave their other half. They saw how I perceived that they all had their place in the world: right next to the one they loved.

On the other hand, they knew—though I wouldn't let them see—that I didn't feel like I belonged, especially with them. Then we all remembered what Alice said earlier and turned to face her.

All this had taken about five minutes, and Carlisle and Esme came to join, wanting to know what the sudden silence was about.

Alice looked around at all of us with an innocent face. "I don't know why you're all staring at me for. I don't have all the answers. And I am not going to give Raven the easy way out. She needs a life lesson and I am not going to stop her from an extremely educational experience." She became very pouty by the end.

"Oh, so getting ripped apart and burned to ashes is an educational experience?" Rosalie said from her position at the bottom of the stairs leading to the attic.

Esme couldn't take that. "Alice said she wasn't going to die, Rose! She can't die. She can't. She can't leave. No. No…." Carlisle put his hand around his wife's shoulder to calm her. She looked outrageously stressed.

I looked at them all again, and then stood, saying, "Alice says I am leaving, not dying. I don't know when or why—"

"NO!" Edward yelled. He rushed down the stairs without giving an explanation. He was too far away for me to listen in on his mind, so we all stood frozen. Then we heard it.

The sound of crunching gravel was like splinters jabbing into my ears. The sound made what was happening all too real. I had exposed our family and the Volturi were here to give me my punishment.

I was downstairs before anyone else. I needed to see it with my own eyes. It took a full minute before the limo stopped in front of the porch. It was sleek and black, but looked like a hearse. The shades were drawn all around it, even though the windows were tinted enough and the sun had set already. For precaution, like always with them.

The driver side door opened and out stepped a burly man with army-style hair not covering his bright red eyes. He kept his eyes diverted from the house and went to the backseat door, which he opened slowly, creating extreme suspense.

Out stepped Aro, looking sophisticated and out of character in a simple black suit. Yet, like all the stories I heard of him, he was wearing his smile and warm clouded red eyes.

From the other side of the car came several more burly guys and one female who I immediately knew to be Jane from everyone's thoughts. She was small and young looking but looked aged as well. Somehow, I found her cute, but like a kid. She didn't hold the same type of position of "be afraid; be very afraid" in my mind as, say, Felix, the guy who stood right next to Aro as if he was a bodyguard (something that I would find quite plausible).

Edward seemed surprised that only Aro was here. He thought that something that had to do with the Cullens must be major and they were waiting for another chance to wipe his family out. I, on the other hand, thought that because I didn't share the same bond they did, and did, in fact, drink human and not animal blood, Aro being here was still too much. But I guess he wanted to see fresh talent.

Everyone tensed around me as they identified the different bodyguards. Aro stood apart from them slightly and walked forward. "I am so sorry to be meeting you under these circumstances. Really, I would have loved to come some other time. Well, seeing as I'm here now, why don't we have your side of the story?" He seemed overjoyed at this and I was worried that he was just here to know how much he was wasting by killing me.

Bella remembered Aro touching skin to know all your thoughts. So I put out my hand and Aro walked up to it, followed closely by his guards. The shock that went through my whole body as I felt someone reading my thoughts without my say in it and without me being able to change anything was unnerving. He could see into my soul—yes, I believed Carlisle, not Edward—and see all my deepest darkest secrets. Every detail of my life—both mortal and immortal—played out for him at light speed.

At last, after I relived the horrible event of early this morning of this long day, he sighed and dropped his hand from mine. He was trying to understand my pain for pain thing of when I was human. Humans were naturally interesting to him.

"Why don't you demonstrate a bit of your power for me? It seemed interesting from your point of view….Also, your past. I want to understand it…really…." He stood there pondering for a moment until he completely forgot everything about my human years. "Interesting…very interesting…."

Edward shot me a death glare and said, "Aro, she did not mean to do that, it's just—"

"Now, now, Edward, my boy. Raven was just demonstrating her powers to me…and perhaps not willing for me to remember…something…oh, I can't seem to remember…highly unlike me…truly….That is her, is it not?" Aro interrupted Edward and rambled on. He was beginning to understand my powers. I had barely used them though. All I did was a complete mind wipe—something I had never done to a vampire's highly more complex mind. Humans were so simple compared to the work I just did as silently and quickly as I could, unnoticed by anyone other than Edward, Aro, and myself.

"Tell me, child: What is it that your abilities fully demonstrate?" Aro asked politely. He was trying to find some way to clear the charges against me.

I answered him with a different question. "Why would you want to clear the charges against me? I have done something wrong and therefore should be punished. I have killed more than I have fed upon. The bodies of which have not been properly disposed of. I have run through city streets through the sun. I have stolen a car with a driver still in it and had it crash not too far away. Now tell me, why would you try and have an incompetent newborn in your guard, or whatever you call it?"

Aro stood stunned for a few seconds. They seemed like hours. Finally he nodded his head. "Ah. I see. You do not wish to join us? It could be your…punishment. For breaking the only real law we have as vampires. Unless you truly wish to die now…? What a waste, what a waste." He truly seemed upset.

I looked down, saying to my bare feet, "I do not wish to be a burden on this kind family any longer. And I do not want them to worry about me. Isn't death the only option then?" My voice was soft, but I knew everyone could hear. In fact, I could hear two quiet people's footsteps walking away. One was much heavier than the softer yet not as gentle ones. Jake didn't want Renesme to see me die. It was understandable.

"What a waste," Aro repeated again as he stepped back. He was replaced by two of the burly men. Jane stood in between both of them with a smug smile on her face. She would enjoy this; torture me then kill me. Of course, take the Victoria way.

The two men rushed to me and each grabbed one of my arms. They faced away from Jane as she looked right into my eyes. I knew Bella would try to protect me, but I made sure she wouldn't. It would make that much more painful when I was able to be tortured.

That's when I started having second thoughts. I remembered the memories I had given each member of my family just minutes practically before this. I remembered the man I had fed on this morning. The one thing he thought of when he died was his wife. I didn't want her to suffer so I had killed her too. I remembered that he had someone to live for. I had no one. Everyone had someone. Alice was made for Jasper. Emmett for Rosalie. Edward and Bella. Carlisle and Esme. Jacob with Renesme. They each had that other person that made their life whole.

I was glad I had none. I wouldn't want to make another suffer, or suffer the same fate as me. Yet all these people took me in when I had no home, even after the trouble and grief I had already caused them.

I looked into Jane's eyes again and I started to worry. I didn't want to die! I was too young to die! I had barely lived! NO!

I had to stop this! So I did. She was about to strike. Then she turned towards one of the guards holding me and unleashed the same agony I was about to endure. He dropped my arm as he screamed in pain. She couldn't stop though. I wouldn't let her. She didn't understand why she couldn't move her head just a little bit to the left and look at me.

In that moment of distraction, I made sure the man still holding me looked right into the eyes of the suffering man. I was then able to tuck when of my legs in front of his and pull forward. He fell down, face first, as I tripped him. I was able to pull myself free when he put his hands out to save himself—reflex reaction.

Aro could see that I was causing this. This was new. He knew that I knew it. I couldn't control people's actions, just their thoughts. Now I could do both. Lovely.

At this point, havoc erupted.

My family all threw themselves at the advancing guard. The Volturi had barely begun to understand what was happening. Bella shielded everyone but me, for she knew what I was about to do. Jane was throwing her pain towards Bella, thinking I was under the protection.

Aro had disappeared into the hearse. One of the guard as well. They did it completely unnoticed in my distress. I would do the same.

Each person had their hand full and no one seemed to realize the problem was running at top speed away from the fight. Of course, they weren't able to turn their heads in my direction or register the sounds of my departure….

Soon I was too far away to do anything, so I just kept running. I heard no ripping sounds and knew the fight had ended. Otherwise, who knows how far either side would go?

Alice was right. I wouldn't let them kill me. But I did leave. I was running away. And I needed a place to hide. Quick.

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**Author's note: i really hope you guys love this story. working my butt off! thanks for the review, DIMS. really motivated me when my life was on the line. i guess i promised more action than there was in this, but i did get the tripping and jane thing in that i wanted from the beginning. _please people, review! it would mean so much to me!_ cant wait to see what happens to raven!**


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